Master of Music - Music / The Czech guitarist and composer Stepan Rak (b.1945) has produced major works for the guitar, many of which stretch the boundaries of guitar technique and composition in new directions. This research report provides a musical transcription of one of Rak’s most ambitious pieces, Tracy (1994), based on the cyclone of that name which devastated the town of Darwin, Australia on Christmas Eve 1974. Rak uses rasgueado and tremolo techniques exclusively in Tracy. This report also contextualises the composition in terms of Rak’s life and musical output, and provides a detailed description on the execution of these techniques and a general analysis of the pieces technical, formal and compositional characteristics.

Thesis (M.A.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 143-152). Also available on the World Wide Web.

This research will compare why two such comparable countries like Slovenia and Croatia have taken different paths towards consolidating democracy. The two countries on the same day in 1991 declared independence from Yugoslavia but only Slovenia managed to successfully consolidate democracy during the 1990s. The purpose of this study is to analyze what differences and similarities Croatia and Slovenia have had which has made them take different paths towards consolidating democracy. The theoretical framework will apply Linz and Stepans theory on consolidating democracy from the countries independence in 1991 until Croatia in 2013, like Slovenia in 2004, became member of the European Union. The results demonstrate that Croatia during the 1990’s were governed by a party and president in a non-democratic way while Slovenia since its independence has implemented all the necessary tools for a successful consolidation of democracy. In 1999 Croatia’s president died and this was the start of a new era in Croatian politics. In 2000 the ruling party was defeated by a coalition which immediately begun to integrate Croatia with the European Union and in essence started to consolidate democracy.

In the "metaphysical vacuum" of The Possessed Stepan Trofimovitch Verhovensky is symbolic of a non-productive stewardship--a father who did not father, a teacher who did not teach, and elder who did not will wisdom and tradition to the dependent younger generation. It is puzzling how little critical notice has been taken of Stepan, and it is a lonely position to find in him the key to the teeming, chaotic world of the novel, but this is the thesis which will be pursued.

The aim of this study is to analyse the state of Indonesia’s democracy 23 years after the fall of Suharto. By applying a qualitative case study, that uses Linz and Stepans maximal definition of democratic consolidation as the theoretical framework, an analytical scheme is operationalized and developed to answer the research questions. The empirical material is then analysed based on that analytical scheme.   The study shows that Indonesia’s democracy is experiencing challenges in all arenas, except for perhaps the political society, as Indonesia holds regular elections that are considered free and fair. The results, thus, indicate that the democracy in Indonesia cannot be considered consolidated.    These results contribute to contemporary research by strengthening the theory that democracy encompasses more than just elections, as well as the use of a theoretical framework to identify weaknesses in a democracy. This is in turn of both interdisciplinary and practical value, for instance within international development cooperation.   Keywords: Democracy, democratic consolidation, Linz and Stepan, Indonesia

This essay aims to explain why Colombia has not consolidated into a liberal democracy between the years 1991 to 2015. To examine the purpose of this essay five interactive arenas are analyzed in order to describe to which extent Colombia is affected by the various arenas. Three questions are being discussed and answered; to which extent have the political society and civil society affected the consolidation of a liberal democracy, to which extent have rule of law and the state bureaucracy affected the consolidation of a liberal democracy and, to which extent have the economic society affected the consolidation of a liberal democracy.The theoretical framework is based upon theories regarding different types of democracy and democratic consolidation. The essay is a theory consuming case study, with descriptive questions and explanatory approach. The framework is used to qualitatively illuminate empirical material to the study research questions. The conclusions of this essay shows that Colombia has not consolidated into a liberal democracy because of large illegal activities, physical attacks from non-state groups, widespread distrust of the political system and absence of conflict resolution through a democratic process.

When the Soviet union collapsed at the beginning of the 1990s, a democratization began to develop. During the Jeltsin years, democracy in Russia was developing steadily, but since Putin became president at the turn of the century it has started to move back towards authoritarian rule. The purpose of this study is to explore the reasons for why the democracy in Russia never became consolidated and to understand why the country again has moved towards an authoritarian rule, like the one during the Soviet union. In order to fulfill the aim of this study, two theories were used. These were Linz and Stepan's consolidation theory, about the five arenas that have to be developed, and Samuel P. Huntington's theory about authoritarian nostalgia. In order to answer the questions that this study puts forward, these theories were used against empirical material about Russia. The results of the study show that Russia does not live up to the requirements in any of the five arenas and therefore could not possibly develop a consolidated democracy. It also seems as if the return to authoritarianism in Russia can be blamed on a combination of nostalgia for the Soviet union, which developed during the economic crisis of the 1990s, and an increasing nationalism amongst the population.

The aim of this paper is to examine the Republic of Poland and to what extent the country meets Linz and Stepan´s five arenas of a consolidated democracy which are as follows; Civil society, Political society, Rule of law, State apparatus and Economic society. The application of these five arenas on Poland are due to the political changes that have occurred since the year 2015 when PiS and Andrzej Duda formed a government. By applying the following arenas through a case study, it´s possible to see how these are manifesting in the Republic of Poland. The results of the paper show that all arenas indicate deficiencies with the arena of rule of law being the most vulnerable.

The purpose of this essay is to examine the level of democracy in Tunisia. I will research the challenges to consolidation that the country is facing. I will study between the period of 2001 and 2019. This is to examine how democracy has developed over the years. especially after the Arab Spring. This essay is based on Linz and Stepan's five consolidation arenas. This essay will examine civil society, political society, rule of law, state bureaucracy and an economic society in Tunisia. Zine el. Abadine Ben Ali had been in power since 1987. He was forced to move into exile after about 24 years in power. The governing party RCD controlled the political system in the country since independence in 1956. On 17 December 2010, theso-called Arab Spring began, which meant that Tunisians, for the first time in several decades, experienced a democratic leader based on free and fair elections. Based on the analysis of the thesis, it can be argued that Tunisia is on the way to a fully consolidated democracy, but that there are a number of important aspects in a number of arenas that must be met first before Tunisia can be described as a fully democratic country.

This essay aims to explore and analyze Ukraine’s democratic development over time. This will be done within two time periods from 2007 to 2014 and 2014 to 2019 to enable drawing reasonable conclusions regarding what challenges prevent further democratic development and what similarities and differences can be seen between the periods. Democracy is often described as a complex concept that can vary between being defined minimalistic and maximalistic. This essay will study the maximalistic perception through the theory of Linz and Stepans four arenas of democratic consolidation, political society, civil society, the rule of law and state bureaucracy and be doing so as a qualitative theory consuming diachronical comparative study. The arenas will in turn be broken down into statements to make them easier to measure. This essay concludes that both periods have had democratic problems regarding all arenas. The widespread corruption remains as a main problem through both periods as do the low institutional trust, although in the second period the Crimea-conflict becomes the bigger political priority which affects the ongoing democratic process. Despite this civil society has remained strong and forced forward change when needed. To conclude there has been improvements but Ukraine still faces large democratic challenges.